Winner of the Rockower Award, the highest honor in Jewish journalism, this blog contains random musings of a journalist, father, husband, son, friend, poodle-owner, Red Sox fan and occasionally-ranting rabbi, taken from Shabbat-O-Grams, columns, speeches, letters, sermons and thin air. "On One Foot," the column, appears regularly in the New York Jewish Week, as well as a blog for the "Times of Israel."

Friday, November 30, 2012

TBE Bar/Bat Mitzvah Commentary: Rebecca Gatz on Vayishlach

Shabbat Shalom!

My name is Rebecca. But I guess you already knew that. But you probably didn’t know that my name is
also Becca, Becs, Becky, Rebecker, Bepa, Beckieboo, and of course,
Goobie. And then there’s my middle name,
Ilene.

I like some of these names
more than others, but each name tells something unique about who I am. For example, my nickname Bepa was created
because my sister could not pronounce Rebecca when she was young. So she called
me “Bepa.” As for the ever
popular Beckieboo, well, I had given a funny nickname to a friend of mine and
Beckieboo was her way of gaining revenge. So those names are about special
relationships I have with certain people at certain times in their lives and
in mine.

My names also tell about my ancestry. Rebecca
is for my great grandma Becky, short for Rebecca and Ilene is for great grandpa
Irwin, also known as Sugar. In having
their names, I also hope to have some of their great qualities. Great Grandma Becky
was known to be very optimistic, even when times were hard. And great grandpa Sugar was known for his
kindness, and his sweet tooth. I’ve definitely
inherited that quality, especially when it comes to peanut butter ice
cream!

My name also connects me to
Jewish history. Rebecca in the Torah is
very kind and cares about her family.
She also had to be strong enough to take care of twins and referee their
disputes.

A name can also describe
someone’s accomplishments - like doctor or rabbi. And then there’s my last name -Gatz- which is
a short form of an old personal name formed with the same root as the German
word “gate” which means ‘companion’.

In my portion- Vayishlach-
Jacob’s name changes to Israel when he wrestles with the angel. He said to the angel “I’m not going to let
you go until you bless me.” And the angel said, from this point on, your name
will be “Israel,” because you have striven with beings divine and human and you
have prevailed.” So the name Israel
basically means someone who wrestles with God.
I feel that it’s natural in a religion to a lot of questioning – or wrestling
with questions. It’s part of being a
Jew.

By the way, the word “Jew”
comes from the Hebrew word “Yehudah” which is a form of thank you. So while to be part of Israel means to
wrestle with God, to be a Jew also means to be grateful for all we have. That’s perfect for this Thanksgiving
weekend.

As someone who loves to
read, I know that many of my favorite books also have important name changes or
nicknames as part of the plot. In “The
Hunger Games,” Katniss Everdeen is the “Girl on Fire.” In Harry Potter, Harry is known as the “Boy
who lived.” And in my new favorite book, “Divergent,” the main character makes
a huge change in her life and switches her name from Beatirce to ‘Tris.

A name means that you are
human and connected to other people, to your family and your history. When that name changes, it signals that your
life or personality has changed to – and that you’ve passed a new stage of
growth.

Today, I proudly announce
that I have a new name – a new title, in fact, and it’s called “Bat Mitzvah.”

And now that I am a bat
mitzvah, I understand that I have new responsibilities to care for others and
help repair the world. For my mitzvah
project, I walked to raise almost $1,700 for the Bennett Cancer Center at
Stamford Hospital. I also collected
books for children ages 3-12 who have cancer and will be donating them to
Stamford Hospital. If you would like to
still contribute, you can contact me.